Starter for motor-cars.



A. A. P. NEEL. STARTER FOR MOTOR CARS. APPLICATION FILED JAN.16,1914.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

art-06110430 ALLEN A. 1". -NEEL, OF MARSHALL, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO THOMAS HENDERSON MADDUX, 0F MARSHALL, VIRGINIA.

STARTER FOR MOTOR-CARS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN A. P. NEEL, a'citizen of the United States of America, residing at Marshall, in the county of vFauo uier and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starters for Motor-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to starters for motor cars, and it proposes briefly, an improved device of the general class or character specified which will operate positively to start the motor automatically upon the mere actuation of a single rod or lever.

More specifically, it comprehends the provision of a starter which will act in the manner indicated without the aid of any considerable muscular effort on the part of the operator, and without requiring the employment of any such force as compressed air or gas, or electricity, but solely by the release of a spring, which latter is itself wound automatically by the motor thereby avoiding the principal defects of both types or starters now in use.

Finally it contemplates the provision of a starter which shall possess maximum compactness, lightness and simplicity and which me be applied to any of the conventional makes of cars without necessitating re-arrangement of the ordinary parts thereof.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved starter applied to the motor of a car; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the starter; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively an enlarged side elevation of the clutch included in the starter, with parts broken away, anda transverse section of the same on line 55 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of the mounting of the starting spring.

Referring to said drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof 7 indicates in a general manner, the motor of the car, 8 its shaft, 9 the crank, and 10 the radiator. All of these parts or elements are of the usual type and therefore, require no especial description.

The starter mechanism, wherein the invention resides, is located in the hood between the radiator and the front end of the crank case of the motor and it preferably Specification of Letters Patent.

1 atented J an. 26, 19315..

Application filed January 16, 1914.. Serial No. 812,441.

is provided with a notch or shoulder 14: that is engageable with a tooth 15 on the motor shaft to eflect the rotation of the latter and in consequence the starting of the motor, when the drum is rotated, so that the parts 14 and 15 may thus be considered as the starting clutch, said parts, however, being normally separated by the action of a spring 16 which is interposed between the sleeve end and the front bracket 13. Tooth 15 also cooperates in the usual way with a notch or shoulder 16 provided on the crank sleeve 17 but the crank 9 is only intended to be used for starting purposes during the first operation, or setting of the mechanism, after which the mechanism will operate automatically, as will be made plain latter, although the said crank may of course also be used in emergencies, as in the case of in jury or accident to the starting mechanism.

The forward movement of the drum and its subsequently described connected parts, for the purpose of coupling the clutch parts 14 and 15, is efi'ected by means of a single rod 18, which, as shown, in Fig. 1, is disposed horizontally within the hood of the motor and projects at-its rear end through an aperture in the dash 19, at which point it is provided with a suitable handle 20. The front end of this rod 18 is pivoted to the upper end of a vertical rod 21 which has a loose pivotal connection 22, adjacent its lower end, with a horizontal arm 23 that preferably constitutes an extension of the rear bracket 13, said arm 23 being secured at one end to the motor case and at the other end by a brace to the frame. The lower end 24 of rod 21 is forked and has a pin-and-slot connection 25 with an internally-threaded collar 26 slidable upon a short horizontal counter-shaft 27, which shaft is journaled at one end in a bearing provided in the upper portion of the rear bracket 13 and at the other end in a bushing 27' secured to the motor case, and is shiftable end-wise in and through said sleeve and hearing. The rear face of collar 26 is cupped, as

- shaft 27 and is formed with a suitable-friction gear 31. This gear 31 is designed for coactlon with the concave friction face 31 of a toothed gear 31 which is loosely mounted on sleeve 27 and meshes with a toothed gear 32 fast on the motor shaft 8. The extreme inner rod portion of shaft 27 projects into a socket 27 formed in the motor case and is normally forced forward or outwardly of said socket by a spring 27 to disengage the friction gear 31 from the friction face 31 of gear 31 as subsequently described. 7

The clutch members 26 and 30 act as a lock for the starting mechanism, as will be later explained, and the movable or female member 26 is normally held in engagement with the fixed or male member by-means of a heavy or stiff spring 33, interposed between the former and the rear bracket 13. The gearing 31 and 32 is utilized to temporarily transmit the rotary movement of the motor shaft to the shaft 27 and for this purpose the front end of the latter is equipped with a gear 34 that meshes with the internal teeth of a ring gear 35 formed on the rear face of drum 11.

The mechanism, as far as it has been described, operates substantially as follows Rearward movement of the main operating rod 18 effects a rocking movement of the vertical rod 21, the lower end of which latter swings or moves forward, the requisite play being provided for by the loose connection 25. As the clutch-collar 26 is held by the spring 33 firmly engaged with the clutch member 30 which is fast on shaft 27, the latter will like-wise be forced to move forward bodily and the pressure exerted by its gear 34 against the rear face of drum 11 will, in turn, cause said drum and its sleeve 12 to slide forward on the motor shaft 8 until the parts 14 and 15 of the starting clutch are engaged, whereupon the forward movement of the drum and sleeve will cease and the drum will be coupled to the motor shaft. The rod 18 is then pulled back still farther, with the result that the spring 33 yields and permits the disengagement of the members 26 and 30 of the locking clutch. The motor is then ready to be turned over and started, but it is to be observed that the relative widths of the ring gear 35 and countereshaft gear 34 are such that disengagement of the two does not take place during the movements described.

The actual rotation of the drum is produced, according to this invention, by means of a spiral sprin 36 that is fitted in a pe ripheral groove 3 formed in the drum, the

side walls of which groove converge toward each other as they approach the peripheral surface of the drum, as clearly shown 1n Fig. 6. This spring is wound up from the motor, the latter, in the initial setting of the mechanism, being cranked manually to produce the winding, which is thereafter effected automatically during the operation of the mechanism, unwinding, however, being normally prevented by the interlocking of the clutch members 26 and 30. On the other hand, as soon as these members have been disengaged, the starting spring will be .free to unwind and will, therefore, effect It will be understood from the forego ng,-

therefore, that when the rod 18 is operated to shift the starter forward and, at. the same time, to release the unlocking clutch, the expansion of the spring 36 will take place, which will in turn, rotate both the drum and the motorshaft and, also, the counter-shaft 27, the rotation of the latter being due to. the intermeshing of the gears 34 and 35. Now a portion of the said counter-shaft, or shiftable, locking-clutch shaft, as it may be termed, is formed with a short series of threads 38, shown best in Fig. 4, which are set very close together. When the clutchcollar 26 is moved away from the clutch gear 3031, it is brought substantially into engagement with the first thread of this series, so that the rotation of the countershaft, which takes place immediately thereafter, will cause said collar to travel forward thereon from its full-line position to its dotted line position depicted in Fig. 4, such movement,'of course, being quite short and beingpermitted by the play provided for by the pin-and-slot or like loose connections 25. As a result of this movement, the

spring 33 is subjected to a" compression whichis utilized to produce or bring about thereturn movementof the countershaft, as will now be explainedv When the motor has commenced running, the handle of the operating rodv 18 is released, whereupon expansion of spring 33 forces the counter-shaft 'rearwardly, with the result that the friction gear 31 thereon is brought into engagement with the friction face 31 of the gear 31?, the latter meshing with the gear 32 on the motor shaft, while at the same time, the drum is unclutched from tooth 15' b'yfthe action of spring 16, andreturned rearward to normal position.

engage the clutch member 31 from the clutch face 31', of gear 31 and positively lock the former to the clutch collar, thereby locking the starting springagainst unwinding. The rods 21 and 18 are likewise shifted during the return movement of the collar, and means is provided for locking them in normal or neutral position at the moment when the collar leaves the rearmost thread 88, the timing of the parts being such that this disengagement of the collar from said thread takes place just after the re-winding of the starting spring has been completed, thereby preventing over-winding. In the construction shown, the under surface of rod 18, adjacent to its handle end, is formed with a series of notches 18 which are engageable by a suitable pawl 18 mounted on the dash.

The operation, generally, of the mechanism is believed to be apparent from the above, but as far as the initial setting of the parts is concerned, it may be stated that the motor is started manually by means of the crank 9, after which the operation is automatic, with the result that the drum is rotated in the proper direction to Wind up the starting spring. After having once been wound up in the manner described the mechanism will proceed to operate automati- Ically, and the car will require no further manual cranking excepting in the event of injury to the starter, as previously stated.

If desired, the starter may be supplemented and further improved by the provision of' a device for indicating to the driver of the car the moment when the starting spring is fully Wound up. Such device is represented in a somewhat diagrammatic manner in Figs. l and 3, and may consist,

as therein shown, of a gear 39 mounted on one end of a flexible shaft 40, the other end of which is connected to the pointer of an indicator or gage 4:1 fixed to the dash-board 19. Pinion 39 is arranged in the path of a tooth 42 provided upon the periphery of drum 11, so that the revolutions of the drum incidental to the winding operation will be transmitted by shaft 40 to the indicator mechanism.

It is to be noted that in the'above described mechanism the-parts are free from complication in construction and mode of 7, operation; their movements are direct and 1. A starter for motors, comprising, in

combination with the motor shaft, drum loosely mounted on said shaft for sliding movement thereon and'provided with a driving spring; means'for moving said drum bodily on said shaft in one direction; means for coupling said drum and shaft together when the former is thus moved; locking means for holding said spring in wound-up condition and releasable at the conclusion of such movement to permit expansion of said spring and consequentrotation of said shaft; means for automatically returning said drum after such rotation has commenced; and means for re-winding said spring from said shaft at the conclusion of said return movement.

2. A starter for motors, comprising, in combination with the motor shaft, a drum loosely mounted on said shaft for sliding movement thereon and provided with a driving spring; a counter-shaft connected with said drum; means for moving said drum and said counter-shaft bodily in one direction; means for coupling said drum and the motor shaft together when the former is thus moved; and a locking clutch carried by said countershaft for normally holding said spring in-wound-up condition, said clutch being releasable by the first-named means at the-conclusion of such movement, to permit expansion of said spring and consequent rotation of said motor shaft.

3. A starter for motors, comprising, in combination with the motor shaft, a drum loosely mounted on said shaft for sliding movement thereon and provided with a driving spring; a counter-shaft connected with said drum; means for movin said drum and said counter-shaft bodily in one direction; means for coupling said drum and the motor shaft together when the former is thus moved; a locking clutch carried by said counter-shaft for normally holding said spring in wound-up condition, said clutch being releasable by the first-named means at the conclusion of such movement, to permit expansion of the spring and consequent rotation of the motor-shaft; means for moving said drum and countershaft in the opposite direction after such rotation has commenced; and a gear connection between said countershaft and said motor shaft for-rotating the former from the latter at the conclusion of such return movement.

4. A starter for motors, comprising; in combination With the motor shaft, a drum loosely mounted on said shaft for sliding movement thereon and provided With a driving spring; a counter-shaft having a permanent gear connection With said drum and a releasable gear connection With said motor shaft; means for bodily moving said drum and said counter-shaft in one direction, whereby the second-named gear connection is released; means for coupling said drum and said motor shaft together When the former is thus moved; a locking clutch carried by said counter-shaft for normally holding said spring in Wound-up condition, said clutch being releasable by the first-named means at the conclusion of such movement, to permit expansion of the spring and consequent" rotation of the motor shaft; and means for moving said drum and countershaft in the opposite direction after such rotation has commenced, to uncouple the drum and the motor shaft and to restore the with a peripheral groove; a spiral spring seated in said groove; means for coupling said drum to said motor shaft; and means for locking said spring against expansion, said means bein automatically releasable when said drum is coupled to said shaft to permit the spring to expand, the Walls of said groove converging toward the peripheral surface of said drum to retard such expansion.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALLEN A. P. NEEL.

Witnesses T. H. MARSHALL, E. S. CnABKsoN. 

